Zowie album 'dark and pretty'

She might pin herself as the pint-sized powerhouse from the year 3000, but Zowie is very much the girl of the moment.

The one-time Bengal Lights drummer and Bionic Pixie star, Zowie (real name Zoe Fleury) is now well and truly comfortable in her alter-ego's skin and has a debut album to cement it.

Love Demolition has been two years in the making and is the Auckland singer's pride and joy.

Her first single Broken Machine was one of the songs of 2010 - it was picked up for advertising campaigns and Hollywood blogger Perez Hilton invited Zowie to play at one of his legendary showcases and has continued to support her via his website.

"Perez posted Broken Machine before anyone knew about us," Zowie says. "Our social media, everything went insane. Twitter nearly crashed... we just got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of plays and there were people in New Zealand who were saying 'who is this chick? We've never heard of her'."

Kiwis soon discovered who she was during Katy Perry's tour last year. Even before she had an album under her belt, Zowie was invited to support Perry on both her New Zealand and Australian tours, which meant playing to more than 150,000 people.

Her live shows highlight her energy as a performer - complete with outlandish outfits and live band. While she doesn't think pop is a dirty word, Zowie is adamant she wants to be more than just a pop princess; more than just blatant sexuality and no substance.

"I definitely embrace the pop side [of music]. For example, my favourite band is Nine Inch Nails, who are super industrial, super dark, but they mixed in, sometimes I think without people noticing, these really beautiful pop elements. And that's what I wanted to achieve with this album - having it dark and pretty.

"I just don't want people to be staring at my legs or my body when I'm like 'you should be listening to the music'. Of course I like fashion and I like to make a statement with it, but I don't want it to be boobs hanging out or anything - it just doesn't interest me."

But she does like to be mischievous. Within the catchy concoction of electronic hip-hop, industrial pop and eclectic beats, there are some cheeky, clever lyrics.

"My lyrics are definitely full of double entendres, or probably triple entendres. There's one of the songs on the album that says 'I want you here tonight, I don't want nobody else', but the whole idea behind it was about people coming to our show. But when you hear it, it sounds super sexy - so people relate to it in all these different ways."

And with Love Demolition, Zowie is sure to knock down some preconceptions and open more than a few doors.